Temperature responsive ends down detecting and reporting apparatus and method



Aug. 11, 1970 R. L. BLACK, JR.. ETAL 3,523,414

TEMPERATURE RESPONSIVE ENDS-DOWN DETECTING AND REPORTING APPARATUS AND METHOD Filed Aug. 2, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 E L B ir i OBEELT LACK, 2.

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ATTORNEYS 3,523,414 ETECTING AND REPORTING Aug. 11, 1970 R. 1.. BLACK, JR. ET AL TEMPERATURE RESPONSIVE ENDS-DOWN D APPARATUS AND METHOD 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 2. 1968 QINVENTORSI BERT L. BLACKJIE. and \/\L L \AM L. MULLIGAN YW,MZ,J% MM ATTORNEY$ United States Patent 3,523,414 TEMPERATURE RESPONSIVE ENDS DOWN DE- TECTING AND REPORTING APPARATUS AND METHOD Robert L. Black, Jr., and William L. Mulligan, Charlotte, N.C., assignors to Parks-Cramer Company, Charlotte, N.C., a corporation of Massachusetts Filed Aug. 2, 1968, Ser. No. 749,659 Int. Cl. D01h 11/00 US. Cl. 57-56 9 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An apparatus and method for detecting and registering the existence of ends down on a textile yarn forming machine such as a spinning machine wherein a detector means mounted on and movable with a traveling machine tending means scans elements of the textile machine which are heated by the formation of ends of yarn, the detector means being responsive to variations in the temperature of the machine elements and sensing such temperatures as indicative of the absence and presence of yarns formed by the machine.

This invention related to an invention described and claimed in an application entitled Ends Down Detecting and Reporting Apparatus and Method filed on Feb. 19, 1968 under Ser. No. 706,287 now abandoned and owned in common with the present subject invention.

It has previously been proposed that the efficiency of textile machine operators, and particularly of spinners working in the spinning room of a textile mill, may be improved by providing an apparatus including detector means mounted on or traveling with a traveling machine tending means such as a pneumatic cleaner, for patrolling textile yarn forming machines as the traveling cleaners traverse the same and for providing an indication which may be consulted by a spinner in order to determine those textile machines or sides of machines in need of correction of improper conditions, that is the need for putting up of ends down on the machines.

While workable solutions have been found and proposed, it is recognized that a problem may exist with certain of such apparatus due to engagement of the apparatus with obstructions in the work aisles between textile machines. Specifically, it has long been recognized that traveling pneumatic cleaners having depending air flow sleeves are subject to collision with textile machine operators and with other obstructions such as bobbin boxes used by the textile machine operators in tending the textile machines. As to traveling pneumatic cleaners generally, the possibility of such collision has been accommodated by providing flexible and resilient depending sleeves, which may be deflected from a normal position upon collision with an obstruction. While a similar solution has been found workable as to a depending detector means mounted on a traveling cleaner, it has been recognized that certain difficulties in maintaining a predetermined alignment of the detector means with the textile machine being scanned thereby are created when provision is made for resilient displacement of the detector means from its normal position, as upon collision with an obstruction in the work aisle. Therefore certain advantages may be obtained in practical operation of a patrolling system if the ends-down detector can be positioned outside of the aisle space occupied by workers or other obstructions.

We have found that certain machine elements of a textile yarn forming machine, such as the traveler and the spinning ring of the conventional ring spinning frame, are

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heated by friction during the formation of ends of yarn and consequently there is a reduction in heat adjacent a particular ring when an end is down and the traveler is not moving around the ring. Moreover, we have found that this heat variation or reduction may be measured.

With the foregoing in mind, it is an object of the present invention to utilize the frictional heating of certain machine elements of a textile yarn forming machine and variations therein as a means for detecting ends down. In realizing this object of the present invention, a heat energy sensitive detector means is mounted on or carried by a traveling patrolling device, preferably a traveling pneumatic cleaner, and positioned to scan machine elements at each of a plurality of yarn forming locations where heat is generated by the formation of yarns at those locations, and whereby the detector means senses variations in the temperature at said locations to indicate the absence and presence of yarns.

The heat energy responsive detector means should be of the type having a predetermined cone of sensitivity, and is positioned with the cone of sensitivity directed downwardly to accommodate location of the detector means above and out of the area adjacent the yarn forming machines which may be occupied by workers or obstructions.

Some of the objects of the invention having been stated, other objects will appear as the description proceeds when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which FIG. 1 is an end elevation, in partial section, of a textile yarn forming machine, a traveling machine tending means, a heat energy responsive detector means, and a registering means in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a view from below of the traveling machine tending means and detector means of FIG. 1, taken generally along the line 22 in that figure; and

FIG. 3 is an elevation view, in partial section, through the heat energy responsive detector means and certain yarn forming machine elements of the textile machine of FIG. 1, taken generally along the line 33 in FIG. 2.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, the apparatus of the present invention is there disclosed in operating relation to a textile yarn forming machine, namely a ring spinning machine 10. While only a single spinning frame 10 is illustrated, it is to be understood that machine 10 may be one of a substantial number of spinning machines arranged in rows in a spinning room, in patterns which are substantially conventional. A traveling machine tending means or patrolling device, here illustrated as a pneumatic cleaner 20, is supported above the textile machine 10 for traversing the same along a predetermined path of travel. The specific apparatus chosen for illustration in the drawings is substantially identical to the fourth embodiment of the traveling pneumatic cleaner disclosed in US. Pat. No. 3,304,571, issued on Feb. 21, 1967 and owned in common with the present invention, but it must be understood at the outset that a wide variety of other patrolling devices are contemplated as useful in the combination of this and that the invention is accordingly not to be limited solely to pneu matic cleaners.

The traveling cleaner 20 is supported for movement along a track 21 extending above the spinning frame 10 and includes blowing and sucking air sleeves 22, 23, 24 and 25 depending on either side of the spinning frame 10 from a main fan housing, for removing lint and the like from the spinning frame 10 and the floor by currents of air. As is disclosed more fully in the aforementioned patent directed to the cleaner structure, drive means and a fan are provided for inducing the flow of currents of air for such cleaning. While the traveling pneumatic cleaner 20 may be arranged to traverse a plurality of textile machines such as the spinning frame 10, the present invention contemplates also that the traveling pneumatic cleaner 20 or that the manner in which the cleaner is supported and arranged for traversing a textile machine may be changed in varying ways, including limiting the path of travel of the cleaner to traversal of a single machine only.

Conventional ring spinning frames in wide use in the textile industry of the world at the present time include a creel portion wherein a plurality of bobbins of roving R are suspended, drafting systems D to which the roving is supplied, and spindles on which bobbins of spun yarn S are wound.

In order to provide for spinning of the yarn S in the conventional manner, and for packaging of the yarn onto bobbins mounted on the spindles of the spinning machine 10, the machine is provided with spinning rings 11 encircling each of the plurality of spindles driven in rotation from the center shaft or tape drum of the machine. On each of the spinning rings 11 is mounted a traveler 12, through which the yarn S is threaded for spinning and packaging as the traveler 12 moves rapidly around the spinning ring 11 in a well-known manner.

The rapid motion of the traveler about the ring gives rise to heat, generated by the frictional engagement of the traveler and the ring. Upon occurrence of an improper operating condition of the textile machine 10, and specifically upon interruption of spinning of the yarn S, the movement of the traveler 12 about the ring 11 ceases, and the traveler quickly cools to approximately the ambient temperature due to the small mass involved. Thus, a temperature differential will exist between a traveler in motion about the spinning ring on which it is mounted and a traveler which is at rest. Inasmuch as the spinning machine 10 is provided with a plurality of yarn forming locations, each of which includes a spindle, a ring 11 encircling the spindle, and a traveler 12 mounted on the ring for movement thereabout, a temperature differential between the machine elements at adjacent yarn forming locations is indicative of the absence of a yarn being formed at the location of lower temperature, or in the terminology of the spinners, an end down.

In order to determine the ends down condition of a textile yarn forming machine such as the spinning machine 10, the present invention provides a heat energy responsive detector means carried by and traveling with the cleaner 20 for scanning the yarn forming machine elements upon traversal of the spinning location by the cleaner 20. Preferably, the heat energy responsive detector means is so positioned as to be out of the way of collision with an obstruction in a work aisle between adjacent yarn forming machines, as by being disposed at a height substantially above the height of any potential obstacle.

More particularly, in the illustrated embodiment, the heat energy responsive detector means comprises an infrared radiation sensing device 30, which includes a housing 31 defining a parabolic reflector surface therewithin, an infrared filter 32 closing the open side of the parabolic reflector surface and a radiation sensor 34 mounted within the housing 31 at a focal point of the parabolic reflector surface and electrically connected to a suitable amplification and registering circuit (not shown in detail but contained within a register and transmitter 40) for recording fluctuations in infrared radiation as sensed by the sensor 34. By reason of the provision of a parabolic reflector surface, the radiation sensitive device 30 has a predetermined cone of sensitivity. With a true parabolic reflector surface, the cone of sensitivity is in fact a cylinder of a predetermined diameter, substantially constant throughout the length of the cone. While such a cone of sensitivity is to be preferred for reasons to be pointed out more fully hereinafter, it is recognized that the reflector surface may be other than parabolic and the field scanned by the device 30 thus varied from a cylinder, and the present invention contemplates such variation as may be required.

In the present instance, the cone of sensitivity of the device 30 is preferably a cylinder having a diameter substantially the same as the diameter of a spinning ring 11. With a cone of sensitivity of that dimension, it is then possible to mount the radiation sensitive device 30 on the traveling cleaner 20 in a position disposed substantially in vertical alignment with the spindles of the spinning machine 10, to thereby gain a scanning view of the entire circumference of a spinning ring 11. In this manner, response to the temperature of a traveler 12 is as sured, even though the traveler may be concealed from the view of an operator standing in a work aisle by the spindle mounted bobbin or other structure. Further, as the cone of sensitivity of the detection device 30 has a diameter substantially the same as the diameter of the spinning ring 11, proper alignment assures that the detector means does not respond to the temperature of other elements of the spinning machine 10 than those which are directly involved in the formation of yarn.

In practicing the present invention, a predetermined number of textile yarn forming machines such as the spinning machine 10 are patrolled by the traveling cleaner 20 for the removal of lint or the like therefrom. At the same time, determination of the existence of a yarn ends down on the machine is accomplished by scanning with the detector 30 the yarn forming elements of the machine which are heated by the formation of yarns at the spindle locations, such as the ring 11 and traveler 12, as the cleaner traverses such locations. By sensing the temperatures of the machine elements, an indication is derived as to the absence and presence of yarns being formed by the machine 10 at various spindle locations. Such an indication, present as a fluctuation in electrical current derived from or passed by the infrared radiation sensitive device 30, may be applied to a means responsive to such electrical current for registering within the transmitter 40 the ends down condition of the machine 10.

As the ends down condition is registered within the transmitter 40, it is contemplated that appropriate means included in the transmitter will originate a signal should the number of ends down exceed a predetermined number established by the mill management as acceptable. The signal originated, viewed as a datum signal, will then be picked up or received by an appropriate receiver (not shown) and made available to other elements of a data collecting and display system in which the receiver is included. The datum signal indicative of an excessive number of ends down on a frame may then be used to cause lighting of an annunciator lamp, actuation of a recorder and print out device, or in a wide variety of other ways.

While the discussion above has been directed primarily to a system wherein the signal derived from the sensing of temperature differentials by the radiation sensing device 30 may be characterized as an amplitude modulated signal, in that the signal represents the presence or absence of a predetermined differential in temperature of a traveler moving about a ring, it is to be understood that the present invention further contemplates that the electronic circuitry associated with the sensing device 30 may be operated as a frequency modulated system. In such an arrangement of circuitry, reliance would be placed upon the movement of the traveler 12 about the ring 11 as providing a frequency indicative of the presence of a strand S being formed at a location at the spinning frame 10. Sensing device 30 would be arranged to view the traveler 12 in its movement about its ring 11 in such a manner that the signal derived from the sensing device would be modulated at a frequency corresponding to the revolutions per minute of the traveler 12 about the ring 11. In such a system, the presence of modulation at such a frequency would be taken as indicative of the presence of an end of yarn, and an absence of such a frequency modulated signal would be registered as an end down. Through the employment of such a frequency modulated system, it is foreseen that the transmission of information to the means registering the ends down condition of a spinning machine may be accomplished through radio frequency techniques, making possible the positioning of at least portions of the means responsive to the detector means at a location remote from the traveling machine tending means.

In the drawings and specification there has been set forth a preferred embodiment of the invention and although specific terms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being defined in the claims.

We claim:

1. The combination with a textile yarn forming machine having a plurality of yarn forming locations and at least one element at each of said locations which experiences a rise in temperature during the formation of yarn thereat and a drop in temperature upon interruption of such yarn formation, such as a spinning machine having rings and travelers, of apparatus for detecting the presence and absence of ends of yarn at said locations and comprising traveling machine tending means adapted to travel in a predetermined path of travel along the machine, heat energy responsive detector means carried by and traveling with said traveling means for scanning said machine elements upon traversal of said locations by said traveling means, said detector means sensing the temperature of said machine elements as an indicator of the absence and presence of yarns formed thereby, and means responsive to said detector means for registering the ends down condition of said machine.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said textile machine is a ring spinning frame having rings and travelers and said detector means is an infrared radiation sensitive device having a predetermined cone of sensitivity, said device being mounted on said traveling means with said cone of sensitivity oriented to scan said rings and travelers upon traversal of said machine.

3. The combination of claim 2 wherein said detector means is mounted on said traveling means with said cone of sensitivity directed vertically downwardly.

4. The combination of claim 2 wherein said traveling machine tending means comprises a traveling pneumatic cleaner for removing lint and the like from textile machines traversed thereby by flowing currents of air.

5. A traveling machine tending means movable along a track extending over at least one textile machine such as a spinning machine having a plurality of yarn forming spindle locations and heat energy responsive detector means mounted on said traveling means for movement therewith and oriented in a predetermined manner relative thereto for scanning yarn forming elements at spindle locations of a machine traversed by said traveling means which are heated by the formation of yarns, said detector means sensing the temperature of the machine elements as indicative of the absence and presence of yarns formed thereby.

6. A traveling machine tending means in accordance with claim 5 wherein said detector means is an infrared radiation sensitive device having a predetermined cone of sensitivity and is oriented with said cone directed substantially vertically downwardly.

7. A traveling machine tending means in accordance with claim 5 and further comprising a fan for inducing a. flow of air, drive means for said fan, and air flow distributing means operatively connected with said fan for directing the flow of air induced by said fan for removing lint and the like from textile machines traversed by said traveling machine tending means.

8, A method of patrolling a predetermined number of textile yarn forming machines such as spinning machines having a plurality of yarn forming spindle locations for determining the existence of yarn ends down on the machines comprising the steps of automatically traversing the machines with at least one traveling machine tending means supported on an overhead track extending over the machines and having a heat energy responsive detector thereon, and scanning with the detector yarn forming elements of the machines which experience a rise in temperature during the formation of yarns at the spindle locations and a drop in temperature upon interruption of such yarn' formation as the traveling means traverses such locations while sensing the temperatures of the machine elements as indicative of the absence and presence of yarns formed thereby.

9. A method according to claim 8 wherein the step of traversing the machine includes removing lint and the like therefrom by currents of air induced by a fan included in said traveling machine tending means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,131,306 4/1964 Weiss 250219 3,360,914 1/1968 Black et al 15-312 3,411,281 11/1968 Guido et al. 57-56 3,432,877 3/1969 Black et al 15-312 DONALD E. WATKINS, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

